Da Chen, author, was born in Fujian province. At age 23 he moved to America and later authored the autobiographical works: "Colors of the Mountain (2000) and "Sounds of the River" (2002).
Links: China

1962

Pu Yi, ex-emperor of China, married Li Shuxian, a gold digging former dance hall hostess. In 2001 Jia Yinghua authored "Unlocking the Secrets of the Emperor’s Final Marriage."
Links: China

1962

The Panchem Lama, senior Buddhist cleric after the Dalai Lama, issued a 120-page report that described conditions in Tibet under Chinese control. He described starvation due to the Chinese "Great leap Forward" program when authorities confiscated the nomad’s food reserves. The Panchem Lama was arrested and sent to Beijing for rehabilitation until 1988.
Links: China

1962

China gained control from India of the northeast region of Kashmir known as Aksai Chin.
Links: China

1962

The Chinese exacted control over western Tibet and many nomad refugees fled to Ladakh.
Links: China

The US used an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called the Firebee, a small jet-powered drone, for taking photographs over China. It was launched from another plane and released a parachute upon return for pickup by a helicopter. It was later used in the Vietnam war.
Links: USA, China, Vietnam, Technology, Aviation, Robot, Espionage

1964

In India the Communist Party split over India’s war with China.
Links: China

Yao Wenyuan (1931-2005), one of China’s Gang of Four, published a piece titled “On the New Historical Beijing Opera ‘Hai Rui Dismissed from Office.” It was a 10,000 word diatribe against the popular play.
Links: China, Opera

1965

The Gang of Four included Wang Hongwen, Yao Wen-yuan, Zhang Chunqiao (1917-2005) and Mao Zedong’s third wife, Jiang Qing. All four were relatively low-ranking members of the Communist party, albeit favored by Mao. Beginning around 1965, they were able to manipulate the media and youth to leverage their positions over party moderates, such as Deng Xiaoping. Mao’s death in 1976 ended their influence and led to their imprisonment and trial in 1980-81 for their role in the Cultural Revolution.
Links: China

1965

Chinese military researchers isolated artemisinin, a compound based on sweet wormwood, and found to be very effective against malaria.
Links: China

1965

In China the local government of Pingyang, near the southern provincial capital of Nanning, built a smelting factory for lead and antimony. For decades the waste was discarded in piles near farmland, where rains washed the metals into fields and ponds used to water crops. Villagers later tested for extremely high levels of lead, cadmium and other metals. The factory was torn down in 2004.
Links: China, Environment, Medical

TimelinesA text-based site.

1965

China began the construction of a subway system in Beijing. The first line of 17 miles began regular service in 1981. By 2008 the subway network boasted 8 lines over 120 miles.
Links: China

1966 May 16

Mao exploited his cult status as Communist China's "red, red sun" and urged young Chinese to revolt against traditional culture and leaders. The country descended into the ideological frenzy of the Cultural Revolution. Teenagers armed with red booklets of Mao's speeches battled one another and dispatched millions to the countryside. Many "capitalist roaders" were hounded to death. The Cultural Revolution was a radical upheaval of Chinese society initiated by Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Mao, fearing his influence fading, chose to promote the movement, which amounted to anarchy and terror erupting in China’s urban centers. In doing so, he circumvented his designated successors with individuals committed to his vision, including the Gang of Four.
Links: China

1966 Jun

Radicals hounded Peng Zhen from office as mayor of Beijing under charges that he had transformed Beijing into a personal empire in opposition to Mao’s policies.
Links: China

1966 Aug 31

In China a response to Mao’s call for a Cultural Revolution led to a massacre in Hongsheng, one of 13 communes in Beijing’s Daxing district, that left 110 people dead. The official death toll for all 13 communes was put at 324. Over 2 weeks some 2,000 Beijing residents were killed.
Links: China

1966

William Hinton (1919-2004) authored “Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village.”
Links: China

Lao She (b.1899), author, committed suicide. His work included the play "Teahouse" and the novel "Rickshaw Boy."
Links: China, Suicide

19661976

The period of Mao’s "Cultural Revolution." Scholars later believed that over 1 million people were killed or driven to suicide in China during this period. In 1986 Tang Tsou, Univ. of Chicago Prof., authored "The Cultural Revolution and Post-Mao Reforms: A Historical Perspective." In 2016 Frank Dikotter authored “The Cultural Revolution” A people’s History 1962-1976.”
Links: China

The British Mission in Beijing surrendered to the Red Guards.
Links: Britain, China

1967 Sep

The government delegations of China, Tanzania and Zambia held talks in Beijing and formally signed the "Agreement of the Government of the People's Republic of China, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Government of the Republic of Zambia on the Construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway".
Links: China, Tanzania, Zambia

1967 Oct 17

Aisin-Gioro Henry Puyi (61), the last emperor of China, died of cancer. Official reports said his death occurred while under persecution from ultra-leftists of the Cultural Revolution.
Links: China

19671982

Wang Li, close associate to Mao Zedong, was jailed. He had been deputy editor-in-chief of the party magazine, Red Flag, and was accused of inciting the Red Guards to violence.
Links: China, Magazine

1967

Liu Shaoqi (d.1969), president of China since 1959, and his wife Wang Guangmei were put under house arrest in Beijing. The couple were soon separated and imprisoned. Liu died in prison. Wang Guangmei (d.2006) spent nearly 12 years in prison before she was released in 1979.
Links: China

Liu Shaoqi (1898-1968), president of China since 1959, was ousted.
Links: China

1968

Chuang Hua (1931-2000), the pen name of Stella Yang Copley, authored her novel “Crossings,” an experimental novel on the life of a first generation Chinese-American woman.
Links: USA, China, Writer, Books

1968

China established a research center to prepare for manned space flight, with 1973 target date for launch. Program later canceled because of lack of money and political support.
Links: China, Space

1969 Mar 2

Chinese and Russian soldiers clashed on Damansky Island and approximately 70 died. The Soviet and Chinese border troops had been skirmishing since 1959 along the 2,500 mile border. Recent skirmishes were along the Ussuri River border. The Soviets used a full scale tank assault to repulse a Chinese attack on the island of Damansky. A border treaty in the 1990s gave the island to China.
Links: Russia, China, USSR

Lin Biao (1907-1971) was named Mao's constitutional successor. Chinese historical accounts later said Biao showed his true nature two years later as a murderous opportunist obsessed with seizing power.
Links: China

China launched its 1st satellite, known as China 1 or Mao 1, to orbit on a Long March rocket. It kept transmitting a song, "The East is Red." China became the fifth country to launch a satellite into space, sending up the Dongfanghong-1, which means "The East is Red."
Links: China, Space

China began construction of the 1,160 mile Tazara Railway between Lusaka, Zambia and the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam. China brought in its own workers for the project, which in 1976 finished ahead of schedule.
Links: China, Tanzania, Zambia

Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk fled to China and began compiling his Bulletin Mensuel de Documentation (Monthly Documentation Bulletin). The bulletin continued on an off thru 2003.
Links: China, Cambodia

Some 94% of China's villagers were covered by cooperative medical schemes. But the collectives were disbanded during market reforms of the 1980s which ended cradle-to-grave welfare for the masses.
Links: China, Medical

1970

China opened its Sandaoling coal mine on the edge of Xinjiang province.
Links: China

1971 Apr 10

The American table tennis team arrived in China.
Links: USA, China, Tennis

The world table tennis championship was held in Japan. Zhuang Zedong (d.2013 at 72) of China met Glenn Cowan of Santa Monica and their friendship inspired Chairman Mao to invite the American team to China thus starting ping-pong diplomacy.
Links: USA, China, Japan

President Nixon announced he would visit the People's Republic of China to seek a "normalization of relations."
Links: USA, China, NixonR

1971 Sep 13

Lin Biao (b.1907) died in a plane crash in Mongolia as he was trying to flee to the Soviet Union after the unsuccessful plot to assassinate Mao. He was once designated as Mao's "closest comrade in arms" and hand-picked to be the chairman's successor.
Links: China, Air Crash